


Stay

by la_faye_tte



Series: The world has changed [a series of Ted/Paul fics] [4]
Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Angst, Multi, Slight Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-07 05:54:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21453097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_faye_tte/pseuds/la_faye_tte
Summary: A/N: TGWDLM scene (End of Act 1) rewrite where Ted and Paul were exes. Follows “Trash” There’s gonna be some very slight canon divergence here.
Relationships: Chai Coffee - Relationship, Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins, Paul Matthews/Ted, Ted & Charlotte, Ted/Paul Matthews
Series: The world has changed [a series of Ted/Paul fics] [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1544002
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	Stay

Two successive gunshots. Two fallen bodies. Ted just felt like absolute crap. First of all, he had his ass kicked and almost got killed, second, the only thing that saved him from being shot dead on the spot was really badly singing a song from some Disney movie he’d never seen, and lastly, it’s been sinking in that the one person who genuinely cared about him was now gone and it was his fault.

Never mind that Sam was dead, he deserved it. But Charlotte, she’d been Ted’s best friend for years. They confided in each other about everything and she had always been so supportive of him even if he didn’t always support her choices (like her marriage for example). She’d been so patient with him when he broke down at her apartment after the break-up, it also sucked because she wanted the relationship to work out in the end but he and Paul never fixed things after that evening.

Now that she was truly _gone,_ he just wanted to wallow in regret. He knew he shouldn’t have snapped at her earlier, maybe then, she wouldn’t have gone back to her shitty husband who killed her. God, if he had only shown her the patience she’d shown him then she wouldn’t have been doomed like that. Maybe that would’ve been enough to save her. It was his fault and it weighed heavily in his chest as he tried to recover from his ass-beating.

Another thing that bothered him in that moment was how protective Paul had gotten of Emma. Those two had only just started opening up to each other earlier this evening. An annoying, cruel, part of him wondered if Paul would have done the same for him had they not broken up, had Paul not fallen out of love with him. Sure, his life had been endangered but he’d seen the way Paul pulled her away and tried to shield her with his own body, and he didn’t want to admit it, but seeing that hurt. He really needed more alcohol in his system so he doesn’t have to deal with all these emotions right now. Then Bill’s phone rang. It was the only thing that really broke the silence that followed that near-death experience.

Ted knew he probably shouldn’t have been entertaining the cynicism intruding his thoughts upon listening to Bill’s end of the call, but the more the thought about it, the truer the thoughts sounded. _No one can be saved from this, whatever this is._ Charlotte was just with them moments ago and no one was able to save her, and they were all just in the same building. Now, Ted had nothing against Alice, but he’s sure she’s already doomed the moment she got off that bus, not to mention, she’s already around one of those musical zombie bitches. 

And no matter how hopeful everyone else wanted to be, someone has to be the devil’s advocate and lay down the facts at this point. So he challenges them, “And you’re gonna save her? G.I. Bill? You’re gonna run and gun your way through a city of singing zombie motherfuckers? Wake up, Bill. She’s already dead.”

“Don’t you dare, Ted!” Bill shouts, agitated. As expected.

“You’re gonna get there, and she’s gonna be dead and you’re gonna die too, and that’s exactly what’s gonna happen if you try to go back through downtown.”

“Well what else am I supposed to do?”

“Don’t go through downtown. Cut through Pinebrook.” Paul suggests.And Ted cannot believe that Paul’s supporting this idea. If he really cared about Bill, he should be convincing Bill to not go. He holds back his tongue at the thought of bringing up what literally just happened to Charlotte.

“What?”

“Pinebrook. Rich neighborhood, big houses, huge yards.” Paul continued. Ted scoffs and shakes his head at all this.

“Yes. Avoid densely populated areas.” Professor Hidgens added.

“Take Evergreen, cut through the park, hop in the curb and you’re in the teachers’ parking lot.” 

“Right. Yes, and the window to the staff lounge is always open so they could smoke, just slide in and out, used to be my old escape route.” Emma chimed in.

Ted hangs his head in utter frustration at how no one seems to understand that doing this would only result to more loss. They didn’t understand yet how it felt to lose someone to this fucked-up apocalypse. Haven’t they learned yet? Aren’t they seeing the red flags that this thing is going to be a trap? He knew he wasn’t the smartest but doing this will get them all killed.

“Okay, this is a lot of directions...” Bill sounded unsure.

“Don’t bother, he’s gonna get lost.” Ted’s voice came out raspier than before due to that long swig of alcohol he needed just now. Everyone has turned to him with varying levels of annoyance on their faces. Whatever.

“You are such a fucking creep, you know that?” Emma tells him. It doesn’t really faze him at all.

“Oh I’m a fucking creep? I’m a fucking creep? Listen sweetheart, the world has changed, alright? There are no creeps, there are no heroes. There are only people who are alive, and people who are FUCKING DEAD!” Silence fills the room and the atmosphere clearly changed. 

“And Bill’s daughter? She’s dead. What? I’m only saying what we all know is true, right, Paul?” Ted says this as a last attempt to convince them all. He doesn’t want a repeat of what happened to Charlotte. It must have showed because he heard his own voice waver and he felt himself holding back tears. Sure, he and Bill didn’t get along but he didn’t deserve to be another casualty. 

Paul looks around the room, gauging the situation. He knew Ted’s words held some truth in them. They all did. But he couldn’t tell Bill he agreed, even just a little. Bill would literally sacrifice everything for Alice and he knew Bill wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he knew he didn’t exhaust all the means to save her. If that tiny chance wasn’t used to save Alice, Bill would lose his will to live too. And right now, that’s the last thing they needed, and besides, he loved Alice like his own too. So he figures he might as well try too. “I know, the chances are slim to nil. And I know that Bill doesn’t know the shortcut. Bill, if you go, you’re not gonna make it. Which is why I’m gonna go with you to get your daughter back.”

“You’d do that for me, Paul?” Bill looked at Paul with so much hope.

“Hey, it’s not like you’re asking me to go see Mamma Mia.” Paul manages to joke.

“Well, hey, let’s go. If we haul ass we can be there and back in 20 minutes.” Emma says.

“No! Emma, you stay here, I have a theory on how these aliens can be stopped. But I’ll need an extra pair of hands in the lab.” Hidgens interrupts. From a statement like that, Ted could sense that there’s something else Hidgens is implying but he does not feel like looking too deep into that.

Hidgens holds his rifle out and continues, “Paul, Bill, Godspeed.”

Just like that, it’s been decided. Bill and Paul are doing this suicide mission and Ted will be stuck in this fortress with people he barely knows. He returns to his seat and clutches the bottle again so his hands won’t seem so shaky and no one would notice how hard it is for him not to beg them to stay. If he pleaded with him now then that would mean admitting he still cared. But just when he thought his heart couldn’t drop any further, it did, the moment Paul stopped to say goodbye to Emma. God, there really is _nothing_ left for him anymore.

Bill leaves. Paul leaves. Hidgens mentions going to the lab with Emma and they leave the room too. Ted takes a moment to sit in the silence alone. Huh. The corpses are still there. Looks like making sure they don’t attack them again would be just what he needs to kill time until Bill and Paul return. That is, of course, if they do return, and as themselves. Ted tried not to delve in the latter thoughts, because if he did, there’s no telling what he could do.

And for the first time in a long while, Ted prays. For Charlotte’s eternal peace and rest, for Sam to burn in hell where he belongs, and for his friends to prove him wrong.


End file.
